This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Surgical procedures often require a continuous flow of fluids to the surgical site, and aspiration of fluids from the surgical site. In ophthalmic microsurgery, fluids may be aspirated from the operative site utilizing surgical cassettes in which a vacuum is applied to provide for collection of aspirated fluids. The volume of the surgical cassettes used in ophthalmic procedures needs to be sufficiently large to hold an amount of fluid typically aspirated during a particular surgery. However, a large cassette volume may require unwanted delay in a build-up of vacuum before effective aspiration can begin. Prior art systems have overcome this problem by providing collection volumes that are much smaller than the total volume to be collected during surgery. These small collection volumes are required to be emptied several times during surgery. The emptying of the small volumes has typically been accomplished using by using a second pump, such as a peristaltic pump. Accordingly, the use of such surgical cassettes is complicated by the need for both a vacuum pump and a peristaltic pump. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a fluid collection system that can more effectively control collection of aspirated fluid without the need for a second pump.